Thank you for joining me on this journey. It's never been easy, and I don't ever expect it to be. There may be times when you don't agree with me, and that's OK. Never be afraid to share your feelings with me, that's what I'm here for and what has kept me going. I'm not a licensed professional, but I have more than 20 years experience with mental illness.
You can find our podcast, Voices for Change 2.0 at
www.blogtalkradio.com/leftofstr8

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Social Media and Mental Health

I had my
first real taste of social media back in the days of Myspace. I never
considered it to be anything of value; I
just thought it was something to do for fun. However, it was essentially just a waste of time. In about 2006,
when I got my first email invitation to join Facebook, I had no idea that it
would be both a blessing and a curse.

So, when
I first ventured into the Twitter arena, I was completely lost. I didn’t
understand 75% of what I was looking at, and hashtags were just tic-tac-toe
boards in my experience. I had no
idea what was going on, but I knew that you could see tweets from famous people
from time to time, and I found that to be rather fascinating, so I stuck with
it.

All
these years later, social media has become my preferred method of
communication. I enjoy checking my various pages and keeping up with what my
friends are doing. There are times when I rely on those people to help keep me
sane. Have there been negative experiences? Too many to count. If you’re not face to face, humor or sarcasm can be taken as rude behavior; which can launch you
into a war of words with your friends looking on like they’re watching a tennis
match.

Even
with the pitfalls, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find a valuable tool that
has the potential to catapult you onto the
computer screens of hundreds of thousands of people. I won’t lie, when I was
new to Twitter and reaching out to others for help with promoting my book, it
felt like a clique; and I didn’t belong. I sensed early on that there were mean
girls (and guys) that didn’t have any desire to assist you in any way.

However,
I was persistent, and I kept posting and eventually started to connect with
people. People that today I am proud to call my friends. On the negative side, people are trolling social media searching for a weak spot that
they can exploit. I’ve had downright scary interactions with people that made
me second guess everything I stood for. But,
that’s what the bullies are hoping for, and I refuse to let them win.

The
camaraderie felt within the mental health community on Twitter is like nothing
I’ve ever seen before. We’re a community - you might say we’re a family. We
protect our own, and we lift each other
up. I’ve seen it first-hand. Sure, there’s a little competition, but we’re all
on the same team and ultimately have the same goal. To finally end the stigma
of mental illness.

But,
there’s something important that you must remember about social media. If
you’re ever in a situation where you’re in so much pain, you’re having thoughts
of hurting yourself, don’t go on Twitter looking for help. The worst feeling in
the world is pouring your heart out and
for whatever reason, nobody answers at that moment. You may not garner the
attention you had anticipated, not because you aren’t important, but because
we’re all working through our own issues.
We’re wrapped up in our lives and our causes,
and maybe we just didn’t see your post.

That
will only leave you feeling more lost and hopeless. Believe me, I’ve been there. Your best bet is to talk
to someone you trust face to face, like family, a friend, a therapist. Take it
from me, it makes life a lot easier when
you don’t rely on social media to the degree that it becomes life or death.
Always remember, everyone if fighting their own
battle every single day. Perhaps they’re just not stable enough themselves to
offer you encouragement or advice. We’re all doing the best we can with what we
have to work with.

That being said, don’t be afraid to tweet about your
feelings, or a great movie you saw, or something exciting you have planned for
the weekend. If you’ve selected the right group of friends, they will be there for
you and both Twitter and Facebook will have their own rewards. Just try to keep in mind that you need to disconnect now and then. Don’t have your phone out at
dinner, at the movies, in the car on the way to the movies. It’s not only obsessive, but it’s downright annoying.

Connecting
with like-minded people has its benefits. I can’t say enough about it. Of course, you’re going to run into people who are nothing like you and some may be quite
menacing. That’s what the lovely little feature called BLOCK is for, and thank
God for that! Social media has the potential to be a fun and interesting experience if you learn the
protocol first and try hard not to take anything personally. If someone has an
issue with you, that’s their problem, not
yours.

About Me

I have been happily married to the man of my dreams for 15 years. We have 5 cats that we adore, and a little house that we are renovating. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at 19. It has been a constant struggle in my life, and has caused a great deal of turmoil.

Despite my illness, my husband has stayed by my side and I have learned to grow from my challenges. I am now a published author and my book is available on Amazon!